


Step Boldly

by Lumau



Series: Juprafel collection [6]
Category: Nevermoor Series - Jessica Townsend
Genre: Fluff, Other, Post-Canon, juprafel - Freeform, to bare farewell to the old age and welcome the new one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:28:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28407015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumau/pseuds/Lumau
Summary: It is 12 years since Morrigan stepped boldly from the Deucalion rooftop.Now Jupiter is back in the same place, ready to face the new age.I felt the end of 2020 deserves a small story about the next dawn of Morningtide, in which everyone lives happily ever after.
Relationships: Israfel/Jupiter North
Series: Juprafel collection [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977937
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Step Boldly

**Author's Note:**

> Also I wanted to bring Juprafel back. So here you are! <3

He stood on the edge, in more than just the literal way.  
A content smile played around the corners of his mouth, making his ginger beard twitch.  
No one noticed, of course, as he was facing out towards the thin line of orange glow spreading beyond the skyline.

This was it.  
The glorious end to an eminent age, one that at times seemed to put any other era in the shade.  
But then, he wondered, maybe that was just how it always felt, when you were deeply involved in history being made. In time, all that would be left were stories.  
And what a brilliant story this one would make!

All around him, cheers and laughter arose, as more and more people stepped up on the banister.  
He had held his speech in farewell to Eventide – “It has been a long, a _very long_ age. Yet look at us all, ready to welcome the new one!” and in true Deucalion fashion toasted to Morningtide – “Step boldly!”

Brollies were raised, spirits gathered and all around the celebratory crowd stepped across the edge of the rooftop to sail down, down, down, finally landing around the now restored Deucalion fountain. Whooping and cheering filled the air, calls of “Step boldly!” and applause for those who made it to the ground, welcomed into the new age by their friends and family.

Jupiter could not help but feel a deep pride well up inside his chest as he watched the spectacle.  
Not only because he had come up with the tradition, and still managed to bring together all these wonderful people to enjoy a memorable Eventide night.  
But because he knew how close it had been, how many times in the last decade even his unbreakable spirit had wondered if they’d witness another celebration like this ever again.  
And he still remembered the last turn of the age like it was yesterday.  
The night he had snatched little Morrigan from her unloving family, out-spidered Squall’s hunt of smoke and shadow, burst onto the rooftop terrace just in time for dawn.  
Had he not made that choice 12 years ago, who knew how things would have turned out in the end.

By now, both Mog and Jack were all grown up and if there was anything Jupiter would always be proud of, it was them – his odd little family, that he cherished above all else.

They had offered to come home for the Eventide celebration, but he remembered just too well what he was like at their age.  
If he could have chosen between continuing to sail between realms for the League, all the wonders and adventures of the world within his reach, or visit his family for a holiday, he would have chosen the first.  
And he rather wanted them to gladly return every time they felt like it instead of forcing them.  
He had always made a point of being a _cool dad_ , as far as he could tell successfully enough, and wanted Jack and Morrigan to live their lives to the fullest.

So there he was, the tips of his blue brogues just pushing over the edge of the marble banister.  
Even though in all the turns of the ages there had never been any accidents, the thrill stayed the same – that moment where he took a step, felt the nothing underneath grow bigger than what held him on the roof, the wind rushing up past him, the long seconds before the brolly caught on to defy gravity, and–

A swish of wings, a sudden jolt as strong arms broke his fall and he was floating, not down, but upwards.

“Woah!” Jupiter exclaimed, as his brolly sailed from his hand, “Izzy! What are you doing here?”

“Hello!” said Israfel nonchalantly, as if he had not just caught a man from falling off a high building, “I am also glad to see you. I was just around, you know.”

“Around?” Jupiter brought his arms over the Celestial’s neck to steady himself. “It’s been a while.”

“Well, I wanted to see what you were up to, now that it’s all over. Catching up before the old age ends, I guess.”

Jupiter felt giddy at the surprise visit and from hovering high up above the forecourt filled with party guests.  
He and Israfel had exchanged letters since Cassiel and the activation of the safeguard and all of that, but both had been busy with the aftermath of what had happened and the reconstruction of their respective worlds.

“Still the same, good old Izzy,” he smirked, “You just know how to make an entrance, and there’s always adventure in your wake.”

“Is that what I am to you, merely another adventure? Maybe I should reconsider and just let you drop!” snorted the Celestial in mock indignation.

“Oh, come on, you know I love adventures more than anything,” Jupiter said appeasingly, “and it means you’re still as exciting to me as the day we first met all those years ago. Is that not enough?”

Israfel considered for a moment, his wide wings beating slowly to keep them afloat.  
“If some of our future adventures can explicitly not involve fighting evil villains, overthrowing corrupt political systems or being persecuted for high treason in 5 different realms, I think I can live with that.”

A smug grin spread across Jupiter’s face, as Israfel’s shimmering wings carried them further up over the roofs of Nevermoor.

“Where are we going, by the way?” he inquired after a moment, remembering that he had just been snatched from his own party.

“Did you know,” Israfel replied, “that in the right moment and at a certain height you can see the moon and the sun simultaneously, both Even- and Morningtide at the same time? I thought you would like that.”

Jupiter grinned and let his head settle against Israfel’s shoulder.  
  
It was the end of an epic age, but he had no doubt that the next one would be just as brilliant.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading, and your serotonin boosts with kudos and comments!
> 
> I wish everyone a good farewell to whatever this weird year was, and that the next one holds a lot of great things for you!
> 
> Step Boldly!


End file.
